CHAMPs > CHAMP in Action

Second Annual Pens for Parkinson's

(January 2, 2014) - On a cold Thursday evening on October 24, 2013, students from The Entrepreneurs Academy and Virtual Enterprises at Susan E. Wagner High School located in Staten Island, New York, hosted their Second Annual Pens for Parkinson’s fundraising event.

This event is one of the ways we raise funds for Parkinson’s disease research. Our Pens for Parkinson’s come in several colors and have the following information printed on them www.unitywalk.org, Virtual Enterprises and The Entrepreneurs Academy and lastly, Susan E. Wagner High School. We are very proud to be selling these pens. They are a big fundraiser, especially for students. The pens are neon colored and catch your eye. Everyone sees them! We want everyone who has a Pen for Parkinson’s to use their pens, knowing that their donation supports research to fight this disease.

Our school wants us to participate in community service and we chose Pens for Parkinson’s as our project. The event started in September 2012 one month after our teacher, Ms. Monaco was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. We wanted to show our support for her as well as raise funds for Parkinson’s disease research. Students in The Entrepreneurs Academy asked friends and family members to buy Pen for Parkinson’s in order to raise money for our amazing team. Several of the teachers in our school, as well as the administration, also participated in our fundraiser by purchasing Pens for Parkinson’s. Our team is called Team Monaco and we are very proud to be walking with our teacher.

When pens are purchased, names are written on hearts which are displayed outside of our classroom to represent PUW 2014. Last year we raised $10,800 and this year we are confident that we will raise even more!

Participating in this event has made students more aware of Parkinson’s disease. Several students have even shared their own personal stories about family members or friends who are living with this disease.

We are very proud of our teacher, Ms. Monaco, and we look forward to walking with her in the Parkinson’s Unity Walk on April, 26, 2014!